Manslaughter plea taken in Atwater death
A 31-year-old man arrested in Green Bay, Wis., last year for a 1998 Atwater homicide was sentenced this week to 18 years in prison.
Carlos Roy Ramirez pleaded no contest to voluntary manslaughter and assault of 21-year-old Cody Pate behind an apartment complex in the 2500 block of Winton Way. Ramirez was sentenced Wednesday in a plea agreement with the prosecution.
No one from the victim's family was present for the hearing, according to Deputy District Attorney Matthew Serratto, the prosecutor in the case. Ramirez said nothing during the hearing.
Serratto said the plea agreement was reached because of complicating factors that could have made a jury conviction less likely.
For example, Serratto said, the victim was believed to have been holding a hammer and under the influence on methamphetamine.
"I think the (agreement) is fair, given (the defendant's) apparent remorse," Serratto said.
Defense attorney Tom Pfeiff said his client would have faced life in prison had the case gone to trial. "That wasn't a risk he was willing to take," Pfeiff said.
Although Atwater police reports say the defendant was a gang member, Pfeiff said that's no longer the case. "He lived in Wisconsin apparently without any problems at all," Pfeiff said.
According to court documents, the shooting was sparked because of a dispute between two groups over stolen marijuana. Prosecutors said Pate tried to quash the dispute and was shot.
Witnesses' evidence
The evidence against Ramirez is based on witness testimony, including co-conspirators in the case, Serratto said.
According to Atwater police reports, witnesses said the victim and another man, Bobby Ruiz, had been walking near the Westwood Apartments and were approached by several men. One of the men pulled out a shotgun and shot Pate once in the chest. A second shot was fired, but no one was hit.
Ramirez's co-defendant in the case, Adrian Chavez, was arrested after the shooting and pleaded no contest to voluntary manslaughter and robbery. He was sentenced to nine years, eight months in prison.
After the shooting, Ramirez was on the run for more than a decade, until turning himself in to Green Bay police last year.
He'll be eligible for parole in about 14 years.
City Editor Victor A. Patton can be reached at (209) 385-2431 or vpatton@mercedsunstar.com.
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